Frozen Hearts
by chiefsexecutiveofficer
Summary: An alternative ending to the freezer scene of Countdown. "Blue and red were two colors that didn't go well together, Richard Castle was beginning to realize." Tissue alert!


**Disclaimer: **The characters and the episodes Setup and Countdown upon which this is based are not mine.

**Author's Note**: You may need some tissues. Well you will need them if I do my job right. Italics are flashbacks!

Blue and red were two colors that didn't go well together, Richard Castle was beginning to realize. The light blue tinge of the freezer he and Kate were currently trapped in was quickly becoming stained with bright red blood. Her blood.

_They may have been kicked off the case, but Kate and Castle had found a lead to where the bomb might have been. Castle was so convinced that Amir and Jamal could not be the terrorists who were part of the plan that was threatening the entire city of New York that Kate had to believe him. The warehouse was close enough to where they had found Amir's body and large enough to be able to hide a bomb without arousing suspicion that it had to be checked out. _

_When Castle and Kate arrived, the creepy factor of the place was emanating from all around them and Kate put her hand on her gun in preparation. Turning to the right, they saw a white van that looked suspiciously out of place. Kate walked in front of Castle, taking the lead as usual, as they walked over to examine the van. They surveyed the area as they approached where the van was parked and stopped at the back doors. _

_They quickly glanced at each other; getting prepared for what they might find behind those two plain doors. Without saying a word, they proceeded to open the doors. They saw the bomb, and it was counting down with about thirteen and a half hours left on the timer before it was set to blow. Both of them were stunned to be so close to the bomb that could potentially destroy the whole city and Kate quickly took her phone out of her pocket so she could call the precinct and tell them of the discovery of the bomb. The second she put the phone to her ear, a gunshot rang out from behind them and they both dove to the ground away from the van as another shot came from the same area. _

_They stood up and Kate fired a few bullets in the direction of the shooter as she backed away to hide behind a large storage container with Castle. After the exchange of some more gunfire, it became quiet in the warehouse and Kate slowly moved her head out of the cover so she could see past the container. What she saw was not good: there were several people starting to surround their position and they were all armed. _

"_Castle there's more," Kate said as she breathed heavily from the adrenaline rushing through her system, "We gotta move". After a short pause she said, "Ready?" and Castle nodded. "Go," Kate said as she stepped out from behind their cover and fired several shots in the direction of one of the men who were trying to kill them. He returned some fire and then more shots came from the opposite direction: they were surrounded. Kate managed to get off some more shots in both directions as Castle opened the door to what looked like a closed storage container and she backed up into it with her gun facing the way in. _

_Castle stood behind Kate as she kept her gun pointed towards the entrance just in case the men tried to follow them. After several tense moments, they heard the loud sound of a deadbolt being pushed into the door on the other side. They were locked inside. That was when the coldness of the room registered to them as their breath came out in puffs of air. Kate lowered her gun and immediately began to desperately bang against the door._

"_Beckett?" Castle said with concern in his voice. "What is that?" he said as he slowly lifted his arm to point his finger at several bright red spots on the floor of the container that led from where Kate had been standing to where she currently was at the door._

_Kate put her hand to her left side and left it there as she responded hesitantly, "…blood." She started to slide down to the floor as her knees became weak._

_Castle ran over to her and gently eased her down so that she was sitting against the door. Castle wasted no time and didn't give Kate any time to protest as he put his hand where Kate's was on her side. It was sticky with her blood. "What happened?" he asked, half to make sure Kate was staying conscious. _

"_Must've been hit… with a stray bullet," Kate managed to get out._

_Already a collection of the warm sticky and red substance was beginning to form where she was leaning. _

"Kate…" Castle began as dropped the formalities and he felt himself begin to tear up. He fought away the tears, knowing he had to stay strong for her. "You're going to make it, okay? Someone will realize we're missing and they'll come get us. We're both going to make it out of here alive and then we are going to find that bomb and we are going to save New York City," he said trying to reassure her. Kate just gently smiled as her facial features softened.

Castle was kneeling next to her applying pressure to the wound but couldn't do anything else without any materials at all to work with. The frost that was piercing through him didn't hurt nearly as much as the knife that had to be sticking out of his heart at seeing Kate hurt like this.

"This is all my fault. We should have had backup or just stopped with the case like we were supposed to-". He was unable to finish as a soft _shh _sound came out of Kate's mouth. The room was getting colder and colder as Kate continued to lose blood. The thought of his phone popped into Castle's head and he pulled it out as fast as he could and tried to dial the number for the precinct. He had no service.

"Dammit…" Castle said once again feeling overwhelmed with helplessness as he threw his phone against the wall and slumped down next to Kate. She was losing too much blood. If they were going to be rescued it would have to be soon.

"Castle…" Kate whispered to him. He looked at her with disdain before she said tentatively, "Can you… hold me?"

Castle gave the request no second thought and immediately complied as he tenderly pulled Kate into his arms being careful not to hurt her. When they were settled, she was leaning against him, so the puffs of her breath were his indication that she was still alive and breathing. The slow rise and fall of Castle's chest against her head was comforting to Kate and took her mind a little bit off the situation they were in. Ice formed on their clothes and on their eyelids as they sat in silence like that for a while before Kate said, "I just wish this was one of your books and you could rewrite the ending."

Hearing Kate say that broke some part of Castle inside. When she said that it was like she was giving up and waving the white flag of defeat. Giving up hope of getting out. Giving up on life. He couldn't muster any words to say but didn't have to when Kate said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Castle?"

"Mmm," Castle murmured in response through his dried lips.

"Thank you," Kate stated as she turned towards Castle and put her hand up to his face. She gently touched the side of his face and continued, "For being there."

After a slight pause as Castle worked up the energy to respond, he stated the one word that symbolized everything they had together, "Always."

Kate's hand fell from his face and dropped down to land on his stomach as her eyes closed and Kate Beckett took her final breath.

Overcome with emotion, Castle slightly shook her body and said, "Kate… stay with me. Kate." He moved his hand towards her face and caressed her face as he realized that she was gone.

If he could have cried, he would have. He would have cried and never stopped. Instead his whole body shook as he moaned in agony. The love of his life was gone. Even if he somehow made it out alive, he knew he wouldn't be able to function without her. She was his better half. And he wanted to be her one and done. Now he had so many regrets; he should have told her how he felt and now she would never know. As his will to live began to diminish and he no longer could muster up energy against the frigid temperature to do much of anything… Richard Castle closed his eyes.

(-x-)

That was how they found them, an hour later. In the same position with Castle holding Kate close to himself. Upon seeing the scene, Ryan and Esposito were struck with grief and had to leave the area so that they didn't collapse. Delivering the news to Montgomery, Alexis, Martha, and Jim was the hardest thing the two ever had to do but they agreed to do it because they knew it wouldn't be the same to hear it from a stranger.

Upon examining the scene, CSU found a note stuck in Castle's pocket that had written on it the make and model of the van with the bomb in it which allowed the force to find it before it detonated.

The day of the funeral was overcast and raining; mirroring the emotions of all of the people in attendance. Everyone who spoke talked of Kate and Castle's dedication to the law and the truth. They spoke of how well they worked together as partners. And they spoke of how they couldn't believe they were gone.

They were buried next to each other by Kate's mother's grave, and that area of the cemetery would see many crying people and many beautiful flowers over the following years.

A seed was planted near their headstones and it eventually grew into a magnificent apple tree.

Time went on, but Kate and Castle were never forgotten.


End file.
